The Labor enquirer., 1887-08-13
THE GERMANS.
Level Headed Dutchmen Ex-
press Their Opinion On
Recent Events.
What They Think OF General Master
Workman Terrence V. POwderly
OF the X. Of l..
Translated from the Vorbote by HENRY
KNoDT for the Enquirer.

Translated from the vorbote by HENRY
KNoDT for the Enquirer.
According to Powderly's own
statement, the membership of the
great order has dropped from
over I,ooo, 900 to 100000. 1t is a
fact that great number have left
the order and a great number of
members will leave it, if Powderly
is not dethroned in Minneapolis
this fall.
It's asserted that the Socialists"
have joined the order in mass in
order to gain control and to Gre
ate discomfort in the ranks of the
conservative knights who either
favored strikes or boycotts. In
wild confusion the Chicago Tri-
bune declares thai. the "conserva-
tive element of the Chicago
knights are withdrawing and that
the order will go to pieces while
the Chicago Central Labor Union
is fearfully gaining in strength"
The assertion that the Socialists
have forced themselves into the
order is nonsense, from two facts:
First, the founder of the order was
a Socialist and even Powderly
himself did belong to the Social
istic Labor Party, till IS. Second,
the platform and principles of the
order are Socialistic and have ever
been.
Therefore, not the Socialists
have forced themselves on the
knights, but chronic ofice-seekers,
Doodle politicians, and other
cranks have enrolled themselves
into the order, have sworn unscru-
pulously to the principles of the
order, to betray and cripple the
order afterward.
If it is true that there are 10000
Knights of Labor in Chicago and
only a small band of Socialists
hold all the offices in the order it
does not speak very favorably for
the activity and intelligence of the
larger portion of the "conserva-
tive knights.
The assertion of the. Tribune
that the radicals in the order are
driving all the conservative ele-
ment into the Central Labor
Uuion, is another absurdity; for
the Central Labor Union is great
deal more radical than the Knights
of Labor. 1t would rather prove
that the knights were not radical
enough for them. So much for
the wisdom of the Tribune.
1t is fact that the order has
lost great many members not
only in Chicago, but all over the
country, What is the reason for
this1
In the beginning of the year
1886, when the laborers all over
the country were making great
efforts to gain the eight-hour
working system, the agitators of
the knights were very diligent in
securing success for the struggling
masses. The workers were. greatly
encouraged by these agitators,
whose intentions toward the strug-
Cling masses were pure and hon
est. They said that the great
secret order would protect each
and all, that a boycotted factory
would be boycotted by the whole
order, that boycotted goods would
not be transported. The eight
hour system would be sure of sue
cess. AS the number of members
of the order was greatly eXagger-
ated the confidence toward the
order grew to an unlimited extent.
AT one time the applications for
admittance were so numerous that
it was impossible to initiate them.
The great strike on the South
west system. although failure,
had only a local effect. The first
bad break was made by Powderly
in issuing that infamous circular
a few weeks before the first of
May, in which he called the whole